On line xe2x80x9chelpxe2x80x9d documentation for applications running on a computer workstation or personal computer have become a popular means for providing instantly accessible information about the application to the user. Typically, the user activates a help function which allows the user to further inquire about the operation or features of the application. Textual documentation about the selected operation or feature is then presented to the user on the computer display.
Video communications has evolved over the years from a simple video telephone concept to a sophisticated network for allowing multiple users to participate in a video teleconference. For full featured video teleconferencing, users require both an audio communications path and a real time visual communication path synchronized to the audio path. Furthermore, it is desirable to support full color video and telephone quality audio. Video teleconferencing capabilities are limited mainly by the bandwidth of the transmission medium connecting the teleconferencing terminals.
Many computer workstations used in the office or laboratory environment today are connected with other workstations, file servers, or other resources over high-speed local area networks. Local area networks, in turn, are often connected together through high-speed gateways which connect workstations which may be distributed over a wide geographic area. Network wide protocols allow workstations to exchange packets of data at high rates of speed and reliability. Fixed bandwidth digital and analog video channels have been combined with computer networks to implement some video teleconferencing features. These include high bandwidth CATV/FDM type analog channels and fixed allocation TDM data channels for the video data.
Workstations today have obtained unprecedented computational power and utility. The powerful RISC type CPUs and fast, high resolution graphical displays have made possible multimedia workstations which integrate live audio and video into the programming environment. Graphical User Interface operating systems (GUI) have allowed effective integration of audio and video into application programming.
The present invention provides audiovisual help documentation for applications running on a multimedia computer workstation or personal computer. In a preferred embodiment the invention provides audiovisual documentation for an n-way video teleconferencing application. A graphical documentation interface allows a user to easily access audiovisual or textual documentation related to learning and using the video teleconferencing features of the application. A pop-up menu model is used to eliminate the layered complexity often associated with pull-down menu models, and substantially reduces the number of keystrokes required to access documentation on a given topic. Textual and audiovisual xe2x80x9cfilmclipxe2x80x9d documentation are stored in separate subject-specific files which allow the documentation to be easily internationalized on a subject by subject basis. International icons and easily recognizable graphics also help make the documentation interface understandable to a wide, multi-lingual audience of users. Furthermore, the invention provides a fast help feature in the form of xe2x80x9ctalking pushbuttonsxe2x80x9d for an application running on the multimedia workstation. When a fast help access key is selected along with a user selectable function of the application, an audio xe2x80x9csound clipxe2x80x9d is played back to the user which briefly describes the function of the selected user function. Each user function of the application can be associated with a separate xe2x80x9csound clipxe2x80x9d file which allows for easy revision and internationalization of the audio documentation.
In general, in one aspect, the invention features an apparatus providing audiovisual documentation on a multimedia computer workstation, including means for displaying a documentation menu on the workstation display. The documentation menu includes a topic field for indicating a topic for which documentation is available, and a user selectable function associated with the topic field. The apparatus also includes means for retrieval and playback of audiovisual xe2x80x9cfilmclipxe2x80x9d documentation related to the associated topic upon activation of the user selectable function associated with the topic field. For instance, the documentation menu can be presented as a Motif pop-up window of a graphical user interface for an X Windows application such as video teleconferencing. The user selectable function can be represented as a graphical pushbutton associated with an application related topic. The graphical pushbutton can be activated with a graphical pointing device such as a mouse or a touch screen display.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, a topic field is associated with a multimedia data file storing audio and video data streams representing the audio and video documentation for that topic. Audio is stored in the multimedia data file as an audio data stream which can be retrieved and played back as a continuous audio signal. Each frame of video data stored in the multimedia data file is inserted into the audio data stream without affecting the continuity of the audio signal played back by the retrieval means.
In yet other preferred embodiments, timing information is attached to each stored frame of video data indicating a point in the audio data stream corresponding in time to the frame of video data. The retrieval means includes a synchronizer which displays a frame of video data when the point in the audio data stream corresponding to the timing information of the video frame is audibly reproduced by the workstation. The retrieval means also includes a timing generator for counting the amount of audio data in the audio stream retrieved from the multimedia data file. The synchronizer includes a comparator for comparing the timing generator count with the timing information stored in the data file corresponding to a frame of video data to determine when to display the video frame.
In yet other preferred embodiments, the documentation menu also includes a user selectable function associated with the topic field for retrieving text related to the associated topic.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features a graphical user interface for use with a video teleconferencing workstation. The graphical user interface includes means for displaying a video teleconference application window on the workstation display. The application window includes a video image area for displaying video information associated with the video teleconferencing session, and a control area for displaying one or more selectable video teleconferencing functions represented as graphical pushbuttons. The user selectable video teleconferencing functions include a video teleconference documentation function which when selected causes a documentation menu to be displayed on the workstation monitor providing video teleconference documentation to the user. The documentation menu includes a topic field for indicating a video teleconferencing topic for which documentation is available, and a user selectable function associated with the topic field. The apparatus also includes means for retrieval and playback of audiovisual xe2x80x9cfilmclipxe2x80x9d documentation related to the associated topic upon activation of the user selectable function associated with the topic field.
In general, in yet another aspect, the invention features an audio documentation apparatus for applications running on a multimedia computer workstation having user selectable functions. The audio documentation apparatus includes means for activating an audio documentation function simultaneously with selection of a user selectable function. Audio retrieval means retrieve and playback audio documentation related to the selected user function when the user function and the audio documentation function are simultaneously selected.
In preferred embodiments, audio documentation is stored in a multimedia data file associated with each user function for with audio documentation is available. The audio documentation is stored as an audio data stream which can be retrieved from the multimedia data file and played back by the retrieval means as a continuous audio signal.